Psychedelic Drugs (aka Psychedelics) Essay

LSD, Psilocybin, DMT, MDMA, Ketamine and Adrenochrome… what do they all have in common? They are all psychedelic drugs. Psychedelic drugs are drugs that cause hallucinations and apparent expansion of consciousness. There are many unanswered questions about the drug, what exactly is a psychedelic and what defines it also, what is the purpose of a psychedelic drug? Psychedelics are usually thought of as one of the most profound times in your life or one of the worst decisions you have ever made, but either way it is a life changing experience. Another aspect of psychedelic drugs is the myths and misconceptions about the different types, some are exponentially more dangerous than the others and in the end each drug has a different effect on whomever

A new wave study on hallucinogens, and other mind-altering substances, was organized to address whether these

These substances are in turn broken down in the body into a great many more

By contrast, if the same group had discovered and ingested some hallucinogenic mushrooms, they would be compelled to confront and would surely have discussed and attempted to understand the nature of their otherworldly mushroom-induced encounters. Assuming that their neurochemistry was not so different from ours today, those occurrences would have been well beyond the bounds of their everyday experiences and vocabulary. They could easily have concluded that these plants were the residences of divinities or other spiritual forces. (Nichols)

“Psychoactive substances exert their their effects by modifying biochemical or physiological processes in the brain.” Psychedelics are taken out of context to be for recreational use only, when they can be taken to enhance spiritual journeys.

Psychedelic mushrooms are rumored to have a long and holy background, which dates back to 9000 B.C in North African indigenous cultures. Rock paintings, statues and manuscripts depict what some historians believe to be magic mushrooms. This idea is highly controversial, as other historians claim that none of the evidence found is definitive, and that people are seeing what they want to see. Westerners began to eat magic mushrooms during the 1950s; throughout the 1960s and 1970s, hallucinogenic drugs became widely popular and psychedelic mushroom use became inextricably tied to the “hippie” movement.

Merry Pranksters were famous for using LSD and they used higher doses of LSD because they felt that they were in touch with the nature spiritually and it also gave them sensations that they never felt before. In reality, LSD is a

For most people, when the phrase psychedelic mushroom is thrown out, the first thing that comes to mind is hallucination. Some people think of LSD or the 60s, others may think more specifically to personal experiences they have had with the drug. Some may have used them recreationally as a teen, some may have had a single awful experience with them, or some may totally resent the idea of psychedelic mushrooms. No matter what someone may think of them, there is not a stranger thought process than Terence McKenna’s. When psychedelic mushrooms are brought up around him, there are much stranger things than a memory of seeing God or a condescending idea of recreational fun going through his mind. McKenna’s thought process is best explained in his

Hallucinogenic mushrooms have been around for many years. The earliest recording of people using these mushrooms is from 7000 B.C. rock paintings in the Sahara desert (www.magicmushrooms.net). Psychedelic mushrooms were a revered tradition in native Central American cultures at the time of the European invasion, and have been in continuous use up to the present. Named teonanácatl ("flesh of the gods") in Nahuatl, they may have been employed for healing, divination and for intercession with spirits. Since the beginning of the Latin American colonial era, their use has been hidden due to persecution by the Christian church, which branded all native religious practices as "pagan"(wikipedia.org). According to the BBC(British Broadcasting Corporation), the first documented use of psychedelic mushrooms was in the Medical and Physical Journal: In 1799, a man who had been picking mushrooms for breakfast in London's Green Park included them(psychedelic mushrooms) in his harvest, accidentally sending his entire family on a trip. The doctor who treated them later described how the youngest child "was attacked with fits of immoderate laughter, nor could the threats of his father or mother

Lysergic acid diethylamide, More commonly known as LSD-25 or simply, LSD was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland on November 16th 1938. LSD is a hallucinogenic drug which affects the nervous system. Hofmann discovered the drug 5 years before the psychedelic properties were known, as on The drug is ingested in many different ways, it can be absorbed through the skin (however very uncommon and less effective), taken orally or absorbed through the eye or ear (very impractical and uncommon), however the most popular way of taking the drug is to be absorbed orally through tiny “Blotter” paper tablets no bigger than the size of your fingernail.

When something new comes and is publicized and talked about, human nature tends to make people experiment. That is exactly what people did with L.S.D. The mass of the population did it for fun with no real intent to harm them. Psychiatrists had a field day with the new drug. Psychotherapy was the major field in which L.S.D. played a factor. All through the Sixties and up into the early Seventies, doctors tried all angles to find a concrete use in the field of psychotherapy for L.S.D. In the Sixties the drug was even attempted as a weapon for chemical warfare. The effect of the drug was said to take all rationality out of its victim making them an easy target. L.S.D. prevailed in 1965 because it was said to do "good" things to people. First, it could easily bring out inner emotions and repressed memories

Medical interest in psychedelic drugs has been renewed, but is it possible to overcome their negative stigma and association with counterculture to move forward with their potential medical promise? Psychedelic drugs are poised to be the next major mental breakthrough in health care, yet studying any type of illegal drug is often met with rejection, backlash, or tight regulations (Bushak, 2015). These drugs, if handled correctly, could potentially change the lives of millions of patients across America. Many would suggest that the risk is too high, but in which way do psychedelics present more risks than heavily addicting narcotics or alcohol? This treatment would allow thousands of individuals to manage pain levels, anxiety, and depression in a whole new manner. Legalizing psychedelic drugs for medical purposes would be beneficial to society because of their potential medicinal and therapeutic treatments that heavily outweigh the observed risks.

A Swiss chemist named Dr. Albert Hoffman first produced lysergic acid Diethylmide –or best known as LSD in 1938 (Dye, 1992, p. 2). Hoffman discovered the drug while trying to synthesize a new drug for the treatment of headaches. He obtained the lysergic acid from the parasitic fungus that grows on rye plants known as ergot. From the lysergic acid, he synthesized the compound LSD. He used the compound to test for its pain killing properties on laboratory animals. Being that appeared totally ineffective, the bottle of LSD was placed on a shelf and remained untouched for five years.

The widespread use of the drug LSD was formally introduced by Albert Hofmann, a well known chemist that was working in the Sandoz Pharamaceutical around 1938, in hopes of creating a blood stimulant. The stimulant however, had hallucinogenic effects in which were discovered until 1943 when Hofmann aciddentally consumed LSD. Finding that an oral dose of little as twenty-five micrograms is capable of producing hallucinations.

LSD, which was the catalyst for psychedelic music, was discovered on April 16, 1943, by Albert Hofmann. For months he